Waukesha Police Officers Injured After Fighting Intoxicated Man, Police Say

A tough arrest involving a Waukesha man’s attempt to pull away from three officers early Tuesday morning ended in two officers being injured with one going on crutches and one requiring surgery, according to a criminal complaint.

The man, 27-year-old Stephen J. Gilligan, also received treatment after he was struck more than a dozen times during his scuffle with officer. He is charged with resisting an officer causing substantial bodily harm, resisting an officer causing a soft tissue injury, two counts of bail jumping and one count of felony possession of marijuana.

If convicted, Gilligan faces up to 13-1/2 years initial confinement in prison, as well as $50,000 in fines. He remains jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.

A Waukesha police officer spotted two people sitting on a Waukesha Metro Transit sign in the 200 block of East St. Paul Avenue when they started stumbling and swaying down the street at 3:08 a.m. Tuesday.

The officer parked his squad car in an open parking lot and the two people – Gilligan and a 46-year-old woman – walked up to him. They said they had been drinking at a downtown bar and the woman asked to speak to the officer away from Gilligan.

Two other officers arrived on scene to speak with Gilligan, who had an order to maintain absolute sobriety on a pending court matter. Gilligan’s blood alcohol concentration was .117 percent, so officers informed him he was under arrest.

Gilligan refused to move his backpack, requiring the officers to remove it from him. As an officer tried to handcuff him, Gilligan started thrashing and fighting with the officers. The three officers attempted to hold on to him, but he started pulling all three of them forward, according to the complaint.

Officers tried to steer Gilligan toward the squad car instead of into the road. Gilligan charged at the police officer while they were near the car, causing the squad car to rock back and forth.

As Gilligan continued fighting with police, the complaint states, officers delivered more than a dozen strikes in efforts to get him to stop resisting. Eventually, he stopped after being tasered.

Officers located 2.8 grams of marijuana on Gilligan after he was taken into custody, according to the complaint.

Two officers and Gilligan were transported to Waukesha Memorial Hospital for injuries. One officer was placed on crutches for a knee injury. Another officer required surgery for a compound fracture to his pinky. The pinky bone was nearly sticking out of the officer’s skin and the area was swollen to the size of a golf ball, the complaint states.